London Bridge is NOT Falling Down.

This weekend, I was in Philly for an AAU basketball tournament at beautiful Girard College. I love Philly and all it has to offer. But it's been a while and the traffic was horrendous, both in and out. But on the car radio, BBC's coverage of the third terrorist attack in recent days in London was quite compelling. It was the people of London who just simply amazed me with their typical English aplomb.

The stiff upper lip was in full play. One fellow actually returned to the pub he was patronizing at the time of the attack to pay his bill and provide a tip.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan told people, “Londoners will see an increased police presence today and over the course of the next few days. There’s no reason to be alarmed.”

Donald Trump, of course, used the occasion to engage in fear-mongering by twisting Khan's remarks.

"At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is 'no reason to be alarmed!'"

Of course, Khan is one of those despicable Muslims.

I like this comment from a Londoner who works a few doors away from the terrorist attack.

"It happened, and I can't do anything about that. But what I can do is go into work on Monday as usual. And on Thursday I can go out and vote. And if you're reading this and you're British, please, please, use your vote. These attacks try to make us afraid, so afraid we'll make little cages for ourselves in our own minds. Don't let that happen. Whatever your view on how we should run the country, make sure that those in power can see that people care about what happens next. Because I think that give us our best shot of making a future that is a bit better and a bit fairer for everyone."

Rally For Immigrants and Refugees Tonight at Easton Circle

Tonight, at 6:30 pm, there will be a candlelight vigil at Easton circle to support our immigrant and refugee neighbors. I'd love to hear from individuals affected by President Trump's executive order, issued Friday, (You can read it here). I have no idea why Mayor Sal Panto or Mike "Darth Voter" Schlossberg are speaking, but they are.

Who Does The President's Order Ban? - For the next 90 days, no immigration or visits will be permitted from these seven countries: Iraq, Iran, Syria, Somalia, Sudan, Libya, and Yemen. Residents there are also barred from seeking refugee status. For 120 days, the refugee program is suspended. For Syria, the ban on seeking refugee status is indefinite.

Green Card Holders Are OK - Green card holders are already legal permanent residents. Trump banned them, too, but the Department of Homeland Security finally backed away from that provision in the Executive Order on Sunday after two days of contradictions.

Administration Will Comply With Judicial Orders. - Though The New York Post has published ACLU reports that Customs officials are ignoring a judge's order halting deportation of foreign nationals who've already arrived, Homeland Security has vowed it will follow all judicial orders. This is extremely important to me because one of my chief concerns about Trump is that he would ignore the courts. Most of the Order should survive legal challenge, according to legal experts, although the language barring legal residents is on its face invalid.

It is Technically Not a Muslim Ban. - Immigration is still permitted from numerous Muslim majority nations. The seven nations selected were already under restrictions imposed during the Obama administration.

The Order was Incompetently Drafted. - Because Trump is apparently convinced he already knows how to do everything, he failed to have his order vetted in advance by lawyers at DHS, Justice Department, State Department, Department of Defense and National Security Council. The result is four legal challenges in one day and mass confusion..

It Punishes the Innocent. - Despite Trump's claim to be all about protecting us from terrorism, he is hurting innocent people. Trump tweets about the extermination of Syrian Christians by ISIS, and then bans them from seeking refuge.It is ridiculous.In the name of national security, he has deported a Syrian family on its way to Allentown, despite their months of preparation to join their relatives here. Local Trump lover Jamie Kelton insensitively snarks they should go to Canada after this family was shipped to Quatar.

It Diminishes us. - We are now isolationists, a country like Medieval Japan, where outsiders were unwelcome. This actually weakens our national security instead of strengthening it, something Japan learned the hard way when Commodore Matthew Perry paid them a visit in 1853. In addition,it will certainly be construed as a Muslim ban by people in Muslim countries.  

Blogger's Note: I will accept no anonymous comments to this story.

Easton Gay Activist Earl Ball - "We Will Continue to Dance"

Earl Ball and Timothy Hare

Omar Mir Seddique Mateen, 29, killed 50 people and wounded another 53 at a gay nightclub in Orlando early Saturday in what is being called the worst mass shooting slaughter in the last 34 years. In a call to 911 shortly before the rampage, the gunman swore allegiance to the Islamic State. But if his intention was to strike fear into the hearts of the gay community, the would be terrorist failed.  "We will continue to dance," said Easton activist Earl Ball during a vigil attended by close to 70 people last night at Easton's Centre Square, as darkness began to fall.  "We're going to continue to dance and live our lives freely."

Ball and his husband, Timothy Hare, were supposed to visit New York City yesterday to celebrate Hare's birthday. They decided instead to organize a Centre Square remembrance.

We are shocked by this morning's mass murder at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Now we are all Orlandoians in our hearts. 

Let us join hands in the circle, sharing our heartfelt pulse of love to those that lost their lives and those grieving the loss of their loved ones.

Without speeches or microphones, we'll stand together in compassionate silence. Siimply put, there are no words.

Ball and Hare said they called for this vigil because they needed the community support, and they got it. Nobody minded being photographed together.  

"It's our 9-11," said Hare.

One gay young man, accompanied by his father, was until recently a resident of the Orlando area. He was a visitor at Pulse, the popular gay nightclub where the attack occurred.

He is still waiting to hear from some of his friends in the Orlando community. 

Mateen used an AR-15, which does look very much like the M-16 used by the US military, and has become the mass shooter's weapon of choice, according to The Washington Post. Ball and Hare used love, and bestowed kisses and hugs on their friends. Hare and Ball were gratified by the warm response from the Easton Community.

Across the street, watching the vigil from a safe distance with their arms crossed, were five Easton police officers. Their numbers grew to seven at one point.

I waved and said Hi, but there was no reaction. They were either unable to hear, in a bad mood, or were afraid that homosexuality might be contagious.

The City of Orlando is listing the victims by name, but only after family is notified.

+Charles J. Chaput, Archbishop of Philadelphia, calls the crime "horrific. ... As Christians, our duty is to pray for those whose lives were ended by the inexcusable cruelty of others and to ask God to pour his comforting grace upon all those who are in mourning."

(Updated: Originally published 6/12 at 2:50 pm, prior to the event.)

Dent: ISIL Has Sown Seeds Of Own Destruction

ISIL, the terrorists who beheaded one American journalist and who have threatened to repeat their brutality, spoeak for no God I know. Here's how LV Congressman Charlie Dent has reacted to this savagery.

“Our thoughts and prayers are for American reporter James Wright Foley and with his family and friends.

"We must continue providing arms and support as needed to the Kurds as they combat ISIS in Iraq. This savage group must be halted before gaining further traction in this fragile region.

"The cowards who make up terrorist groups, like ISIS, actually believe by committing these affronts against humanity they’ll spark fear and a lack of resolve in Americans.

"They’re wrong.

"They’ve sown the seeds of their own destruction with this horrific action and the atrocities they continue to commit.”

Boston's Tragedy

Two dead. One of them an 8 year-old boy. 132 injured, including children. That's the terrible news from Boston, site of the most prestigious marathon in America. One whack job Jordanian Muslim group has already stated it is "happy to see the horror in America." I spoke with the father of Boston University student this eveneing. She is fine, fortunately. This thread is so you can react, vent, pray, do whatever you want.

Used Cooking Oil Being Stolen From Local Restaurants

David Gentile

Not all that long ago, restaurants had to pay to have used cooking oil hauled away. But with a rising demand for biofuel, it's become a valuable commodity. Companies like Valley Proteins pay 45 cents a pound, sending out tanker trucks for periodic pick-ups. But thieves are sending out tanker trucks, too, or barrels in the back of a van, according to a private investigator. He warned Northampton County police chiefs, at their June 6 meeting, that these thefts are occurring here in the Lehigh Valley. While most of the theft is coming from Valley Protein competitors, the Philadelphia Joint Terrorism Task Force is still concerned.

David Gentile, a private investigator and former FBI agent hired by Valley Proteins, provided police chiefs with a list of local restaurants that have empty tanks. Because these thefts occur in the middle of the night, most establishments are unaware of them. But from the Yu Garden to the Olive Garden, the tanks are dry. In fact, that's what Valley Proteins tankers have discovered at 24 Northampton County restaurants, from downtown Bethlehem to Bath.

According to the Joint Terrorism Task Force, used cooking oil has been converted to bio diesel and mixed with fertilizer to create explosives.

In March, Solebury Towsnship police arrested Mohamed Brahmi and Khalil Hamayel for the theft of a large amount of used cooking oil from a Bucks county restaurant. They were transporting the material in a 2003 Ford Econoline. That case is still pending.

An Allentown FBI agent, who attended the meeting, stated this kind of theft has become a "national problem."

Despite Obama's Support, Patriot Act Extension Fails in House

An Unholy Alliance of Tea Party Republicans, joined by Democrats, yesterday defeated a brief extension of the Patriot Act through December 8, 2011. A gleeful Nancy Pelosi, happy at the defeat of a measure supported by President Obama, issued a one-word news release. "Disarray?"

LV Congressman Charlie Dent, who supports an extension, believes The Patriot Act provides important tools in the war against terror.

“By encouraging greater cooperation between domestic law enforcement agencies and our nation’s sophisticated intelligence community, these provisions have provided homeland security officials with the capabilities they need to protect the American people from terrorist attacks,” Dent said in a news release.

When enacted in 2001, the mission of the USA PATRIOT Act was to provide appropriate government officials the authority and tools to track, arrest and prosecute terrorists who sought to harm Americans. The three provisions reauthorized in H.R. 514 are amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) of 1978 (P.L. 95-511), the statutory framework for lawful intelligence activities.

Provisions set to expire at the end of the month currently give the FBI the ability to seek Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court approval to access tangible items connected to individuals involved in foreign intelligence or terrorism cases, and use multipoint wiretaps, which help officials keep pace with terrorists who use numerous communications devices to avoid detection. The bill also reauthorizes a provision that modifies the definition of an “agent of a foreign power” to include a foreign terrorist working as a so-called "lone wolf" – an individual who may not have a formal affiliation with a foreign state or terrorist organization.

In early 2010, the U.S. House extended these provisions for an additional year. President Obama's administration supported the 2010 and the proposed extension now, stating they provide “authorities that our nation's intelligence and law enforcement agencies need to protect our national security.”

President Obama: Credible Terrorist Threat From Yemen

STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room

4:22 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon, everybody. I want to briefly update the American people on a credible terrorist threat against our country, and the actions that we're taking with our friends and our partners to respond to it.

Last night and earlier today, our intelligence and law enforcement professionals, working with our friends and allies, identified two suspicious packages bound for the United States -- specifically, two places of Jewish worship in Chicago. Those packages had been located in Dubai and East Midlands Airport in the United Kingdom. An initial examination of those packages has determined that they do apparently contain explosive material.

I was alerted to this threat last night by my top counterterrorism advisor, John Brennan. I directed the Department of Homeland Security and all our law enforcement and intelligence agencies to take whatever steps are necessary to protect our citizens from this type of attack. Those measures led to additional screening of some planes in Newark and Philadelphia.

The Department of Homeland Security is also taking steps to enhance the safety of air travel, including additional cargo screening. We will continue to pursue additional protective measures for as long as it takes to ensure the safety and security of our citizens.

I've also directed that we spare no effort in investigating the origins of these suspicious packages and their connection to any additional terrorist plotting. Although we are still pursuing all the facts, we do know that the packages originated in Yemen. We also know that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a terrorist group based in Yemen, continues to plan attacks against our homeland, our citizens, and our friends and allies.

John Brennan, who you will be hearing from, spoke with President Saleh of Yemen today about the seriousness of this threat, and President Saleh pledged the full cooperation of the Yemeni government in this investigation.

Going forward, we will continue to strengthen our cooperation with the Yemeni government to disrupt plotting by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and to destroy this al Qaeda affiliate. We'll also continue our efforts to strengthen a more stable, secure and prosperous Yemen so that terrorist groups do not have the time and space they need to plan attacks from within its borders.

The events of the past 24 hours underscores the necessity of remaining vigilant against terrorism. As usual, our intelligence, law enforcement and Homeland Security professionals have served with extraordinary skill and resolve and with the commitment that their enormous responsibilities demand. We're also coordinating closely and effectively with our friends and our allies, who are essential to this fight.

As we obtain more information we will keep the public fully informed. But at this stage, the American people should know that the counterterrorism professionals are taking this threat very seriously and are taking all necessary and prudent steps to ensure our security. And the American people should be confident that we will not waver in our resolve to defeat al Qaeda and its affiliates and to root out violent extremism in all its forms.

Thank you very much.